Finance ministers from the Group of Seven major industrialized nations issued a statement Monday vowing to address surging crude oil prices amid the U.S. and Israel’s continued conflict with Iran.
“We stand ready to take necessary measures, including to support global supply of energy such as stockpile release,” the G7 finance ministers said after discussing the tense situation in the Middle East at an emergency online meeting.
A joint release of oil reserves, if carried out, would be the first in about four years since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
“It is a great achievement that we agreed to take necessary measures,” Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama told reporters in Tokyo after the meeting.
According to the Financial Times, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said that no agreement has been reached yet on the coordinated oil release.
International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol, who joined the G7 meeting, called for urgent efforts to release oil reserves.
In 2022, IEA member countries agreed to jointly release over 180 million barrels of oil. Japan decided to release a total of 22.5 million barrels from its private and public oil reserves.
Prior to Monday’s G7 meeting, the Financial Times reported a U.S. official’s remark that it would be appropriate to jointly release 300 million to 400 million barrels — about 30% of IEA members’ oil reserves.
Japan’s oil reserves amount to 254 days’ worth of supply.